Germany allows hijacked airliners to be shot down

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The German parliament has passed a measure allowing the military to shoot down hijacked airliners over German airspace if they are deemed a threat.

With the image of the September 11 devastation still fresh in people's minds, Defence Minister Peter Struck proposed the new measure last January, after a mentally disturbed man stole a small plane and circled the skyscrapers of Frankfurt, threatening to crash into them.

The new law allows the defence minister - or, if he is not available, the foreign minister - to order a plane shot down as a last resort.

The legislation provides some room for judgement, saying that shooting down a hijacked airliner "is permissible only after it can be assumed due to the circumstances that the aircraft is to be used against the lives of people and this is the only way to prevent this danger."